UN raises Pakistan security after hotel bombing

ISLAMABAD – The United Nations ordered children of its international staff to leave the Pakistani capital and other areas it considered unsafe, raising its security level following the bombing of the Marriott Hotel, officials said yesterday.

The move, which came a day after Britain decided to repatriate diplomats’ children, underlines the deteriorating situation in Pakistan, which is under intense US pressure to combat Islamic militants responsible for rising attacks at home and in neighbouring Afghanistan. In the latest incident, a suicide bomber blew himself up near the house of a leading secular politician in Pakistan’s restive northwest, killing at least four people, police said.Pakistan has suffered a surge in attacks by Taliban and al Qaida-linked militants on government, military and Western targets over the last two years that has fanned fears about the nuclear-armed nation’s stability.Yesterday’s attack occurred as the politician, Asfandyar Wali Khan, was receiving guests to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month at his home in Charsadda.Earlier this week, Pakistan’s military reported that suicide attacks have killed nearly 1 200 people – most of them civilians – since the July 2007 army assault on militants holed up in Islamabad’s radical Red Mosque.The September 20 Marriott bombing was among the worst, killing at least 54 people, including three Americans and the Czech ambassador.Since then, foreign missions have been reviewing their security.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon approved the latest move after the world body’s agencies in Islamabad recommended it earlier this week, said spokeswoman Amena Kamaal.The order also applied to the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi and areas near the Afghan border.Under the decision, UN international staff will no longer be allowed to live with their children in the capital, the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi or in Quetta, on the Afghan frontier.Much of the border region, including the city of Peshawar is already off-limits for UN families.Some of those affected can relocate to areas deemed safer, such as Lahore or Karachi.Nampa-APIn the latest incident, a suicide bomber blew himself up near the house of a leading secular politician in Pakistan’s restive northwest, killing at least four people, police said.Pakistan has suffered a surge in attacks by Taliban and al Qaida-linked militants on government, military and Western targets over the last two years that has fanned fears about the nuclear-armed nation’s stability.Yesterday’s attack occurred as the politician, Asfandyar Wali Khan, was receiving guests to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month at his home in Charsadda.Earlier this week, Pakistan’s military reported that suicide attacks have killed nearly 1 200 people – most of them civilians – since the July 2007 army assault on militants holed up in Islamabad’s radical Red Mosque.The September 20 Marriott bombing was among the worst, killing at least 54 people, including three Americans and the Czech ambassador.Since then, foreign missions have been reviewing their security.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon approved the latest move after the world body’s agencies in Islamabad recommended it earlier this week, said spokeswoman Amena Kamaal.The order also applied to the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi and areas near the Afghan border.Under the decision, UN international staff will no longer be allowed to live with their children in the capital, the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi or in Quetta, on the Afghan frontier.Much of the border region, including the city of Peshawar is already off-limits for UN families.Some of those affected can relocate to areas deemed safer, such as Lahore or Karachi.Nampa-AP